gypsy family in Tbilisi

Clothing-line was almost full of the cloth, but a gypsy or a Romani woman- barefooted and unwashed, was still swilling some clothes in a cold water flowing from the tap in the yard. Then she put them into the oozy dark grey plastic box and entered the house speaking something in her mother language in an anxious way. 
Though the surrounding houses where quite damaged and old, they still seemed to be a nice compared to the gypsy’s home. Partly wooden, partly iron plated and also cemented walls of gypsy house looked like a stumbling tree in a terrible storm. Without a floor and with a holed ceiling, the house was hosting sixteen member of a gypsy family in it.
16 years old Bela is one of the Romani family members, who speak in Georgian. She is going in a kind of educational centre and learns Georgian reading and writing there.
“My family came from Azerbaijan to Georgia 20 years ago. We like being here and are not going to move from Georgia. ”-Bella says. As she says, her family has lead a beggarly life all time along and this is how they keep their family in Georgia. 
“Sometimes people treat us roughly and impolitely, they don’t like that we beg, but mostly we are not discriminated from Georgians, even we have good relationship with neighbor Georgian families”-She says.
In the sixteen member gypsy family, some of them are couples, sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts.
A 12 years old gypsy boy, playing with a little, nice but a dirty baby with a Georgian name Vaxo says: I am not begging, because my father works, he is fixing cars.
None of gypsy men begs in Georgia and the situation is same with this particular family. Vaxo’s and Bella’s relative men don’t beg, some of them gather scrap-iron and buy, other fix cars.
None of the gypsies have a passport or any kind of identification card. They have no financial support from the Georgian government, no pensions, and no discounts. Because of a lack of money, mostly gypsy women give birth to a child in a home, without doctor’s help. Though if they have money, they are not against by the doctors and visit hospitals with no obstacles, according to Bela.
An aunt of Vaxo a 35 years old Romani woman, with an infant, wrapped up on her back says that there have never been journalist talking with their family and none of their acquaintances have ever had touch with them.
“ journalist doesn’t interested in our life in Georgia, maybe they had covered our history and life style article, but me and my friend gypsies have never been asked for interview by them”- this gypsy woman says.
Gypsy people are also known as a Romani people. Wikipedia says that “they are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who traces their origins to medieval India. The Romani are widely dispersed with their largest concentrated populations in Europe, especially the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe and Anatolia, followed by the Iberian Kale in Southwestern Europe and Southern France, with more recent Diaspora populations in the Americas and, to a lesser extent, in other parts of the world. Romani language is divided into several dialects and mixed languages”. 

Tbilisi's new pedestrian bridges

Pedestrian Bridge standing on the crossing of Vaja pshavela and Gamsaxurdia Avenue on Saburtalo.Bridge is metal and contains 40 step leader up and and 40 step leader down. It was constructed in he end of 2009.

Two young school pupils with well packed knapsacks on their little backs ran across the iron bridge over Gamsakhurdia Avenue recently, and followed the steps down laughing in loud voices.

“Happy kids, they don’t know how strict life is yet, I wish I were a little girl too,” mumbled an old woman watching as the little girls swept by merrily.
She looked up to the bridge and whispered something. Then she moved on the road slowly to the red sign of stoplight. Resting upon the crutch with her right hand and holding a little bag with some medicines in it on the other hand, old women slowly pulled herself up the metal stairs and crossed the street at last.
Crossing the busy, chaotic streets of Tbilisi is no easy challenge, as nearly 4,500 people were injured and 667 died while crossing street during the last three years. Recent surveys show that only 55 percent of 1,500 respondents say that they follow road rules. The other 45 percent just ignore them, according to research conducted by the Association of Safe Driving in 2010 January.
To reduce the number of traffic-pedestrian accidents, Tbilisi City Hall built 20 bridges in different regions of the city in 2009, and plans to build another 20 by the end of 2010. Each pedestrian bridge costs 100 000- 150 000 lari and the light signals will be removed. Starting in 2011, government transportation officials say they are going to install lifts to bring elderly and disabled people up the stairs more easily, but they don’t have a concrete budget yet, or a construction start date.
“We see this problem is one of the most painful issues for Tbilisi inhabitants. That’s the reason why did we start building these bridges. Each of them is done in order to ensure the safe transportation of the people on the streets,” says Akaki Joxadze, the head of the Transport Municipal Department.

The bridges have met with mixed results residents, according to an informal poll conducted in February. On a recent day in front of the bridge standing on the crossing of Vaja Pshavela and Gamsaxurdia Avenue in Saburtalo, 120 respondents were asked if they liked the new bridges. The majority, 50%, said that they liked the bridges, 30% said they disliked them and 20% answered they didn’t care.

Same bridge with another view. There is iron veneer in the end of 10 metre long pedestrian bridge, which covers the window of the flat, where people live.

Those who like the bridges say that this is the best way for safe crossing the streets and they appreciate it.

In general and not surprisingly, the vast number of people who did like the bridges were under the age of 30.
“I use bridges frequently and I guess it is very nice job done for people,”-says Bella Beradze, a 26-year-old medical student.
But the older respondents got, the more they were likely to complain about the bridges – probably because it’s difficult for them to climb up and down the metal steps, such as the Gamsakhudia Bridge, which has 40 steps up and 40 steps down.
Middle aged respondents were less likely to care, but more likely to question whether building bridges was the most important spending priority for the city government.
“Bridges can’t fill in my empty stomach. Authority should think about our vital interests, rather than wasting money in unnecessary things,” says Manana Dumbadze, a 56-year-old woman. She thinks that government should spent money on making new job places, rather than building pedestrian bridges.
Some opposition members claim the bridges are simply visual public relations for the upcoming direct mayor’s election on May 30, and don’t address the real problems.
“Main obligation of Tbilisi City hall is to provide researches about the most vivid issue for the citizens. They must have discussions with NGO-s, experts and after all assert the project, these rules are just ignored -“says Petre Mamradze, president of the Just for Georgia political party.
One of the oppositional political parties, which entered the parliament after the parliamentary elections,-Christian Democrats contends that though the rate of car accidents was high, making so many bridges was “just absurd.”
“I see some of bridges stand on strategic places and I appreciate it, but most of them are constructed in a wrong way, where there aren’t needed,” says Giorgi Axvlediani- member of the political party. “Ninety nine percent of this project is simply P.R. They want us to look like the European Countries, but forget to solve the real problem- unemployment,” Axvlediani says.
Governmental side doesn’t agree with oppositional parties, contending the bridges have saved lives.
According to the Tbilisi Police statistics conducted in 2010, the number of car accidents has decreased by 30% during 2009 in comparison with the last three years, says police officer Guja Gviniashvili.
“We made big changes in a little time. I’m certain, that people will get used to and be satisfied with the bridges,” he says

Yellow buses in Tbilisi

Yellow, long, with three doors and with a big split on the front window- this is the bus number 9. It moves people from Railway Station to Vake Park. This is usual municipal transport with big, transparent windows around it. Driver’s chair is situated in front, on the left side of the bus. Behind it, on the both sides of the bus, pear of chairs are arranged. In the end, four place chair is situated.
As soon as you enter the bus, grey box, with some buttons on it, takes your attention. This is the cash apparatus. People take tickets from it. There is one more cash box in the middle of bus too. On the bus stops, ticket controllers come in the bus and check tickets.
Bus is always overcrowded. There is no air to breath. Especially in summer. The worth thing that troubles people is, that the windows doesn’t open. ,, hey driver, stop packing bus with people,’’ passengers cry to driver all the time.